Frantz cruises to third term in state Senate

Frank MacEachern

Updated 11:54 pm, Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Frank Farricker, DTC Chairman, speaks words of encouragement to Daniel Dauplaise, Democratic candidate for the state senate 26th District, far left, as results are reported at the Democrat headquarters on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2012. With Farricker and Dauplaise are Katie Blankley and her father John Blankley, candidate for state represenative of the 149th District. Democratic candidates for the General Assembly gathered at the Greenwich Senior Center, 299 Greenwich Ave., to view election night results on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012.
Photo: Amy Mortensen

Frank Farricker, DTC Chairman, speaks words of encouragement to...

Daniel Dauplaise, Democratic candidate for the state senate 26th District, speaks to his supporters as results are reported at the Democrat headquarters on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2012. Democratic candidates for the General Assembly gathered at the Greenwich Senior Center, 299 Greenwich Ave., to view election night results on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012.
Photo: Amy Mortensen

Daniel Dauplaise, Democratic candidate for the state senate 26th...

Daniel Dauplaise, Democratic candidate for the state senate 26th District, speaks to his supporters as results are reported at the Democrat headquarters on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2012. Democratic candidates for the General Assembly gathered at the Greenwich Senior Center, 299 Greenwich Ave., to view election night results on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012.
Photo: Amy Mortensen

Daniel Dauplaise, Democratic candidate for the state senate 26th...

Daniel Dauplaise, Democratic candidate for the state senate 26th District, speaks to his supporters as results are reported at the Democrat headquarters on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2012. Democratic candidates for the General Assembly gathered at the Greenwich Senior Center, 299 Greenwich Ave., to view election night results on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012.
Photo: Amy Mortensen

At center, Joseph Chiappetta Jr. enters his ballot into the voting tabulation machine with the help of election worker Tomas Zeta, left, at the Western Greenwich Civic Center in Glenville, Tuesday afternoon, November 6, 2012.
Photo: Bob Luckey

At left, Ibanna Peralta, 4, and her brother, Javier Peralta, right, 6, crowd out their mother, Marie Ramon, who was at a voting table filling in her ballot at the Western Greenwich Civic Center in Glenville, Tuesday afternoon, November 6, 2012.
Photo: Bob Luckey

"Wherever you go in Greenwich, Greenwich is Scott Frantz territory," Campbell said after Frantz cruised to a third term in the state Senate in resounding fashion.

A Riverside resident, Frantz defeated Democrat Daniel Dauplaise to retain the 36th District seat. In Greenwich with all 12 districts reporting, Frantz picked up 14,274 votes, to 7,558 for Dauplaise. Those totals do not include absentee ballots. Green Party candidate Remy Chevalier finished a distant third, but his total was not available.

Minutes after his Democratic opponent called to concede, Frantz said he will continue to work on the state's budget, business climate and transportation issues.

"I think the voters in the 36th District want to see me go back to Hartford to fight for them," Frantz said.

In his victory comments, Frantz said the Republican Greenwich delegation will continue to work to "right size" state government, which the state cannot currently afford.

"We can recapture our greatness if we do everything right," said Frantz, who is president and chairman of private investment company Haebler Capital.

Frantz praised Dauplaise, who at 27 years old was aiming to represent a district that includes Greenwich and parts of Stamford and New Canaan.

"Dan was a formidable opponent," he said. "I hope I will see him again in the not-too-distant future."

A reserved Dauplaise conceded defeat at Democratic headquarters at the Greenwich Senior Center on Greenwich Avenue at about 9 p.m. Tuesday.

"I acknowledged it was a tough race at the beginning," Dauplaise said, thanking all of his supporters for their generous backing and tireless work throughout the campaign. "This was my first political run, and I could not have done it in a better environment."

Dauplaise, a North Stamford resident, said the process of running for office reinforced in him the importance of civil discourse.

"I learned that ultimately we ran the best race we could have run," he said. "We ran it on the ground."